Governments

December 11, 2020

Ottawa to hike federal carbon tax to $170 a tonne by 2030

John Paul Tasker

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau today released the government’s strategy to dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 — and its centrepiece is a gradual hike in the federal carbon tax on fuels to $170 a tonne by that year.

November 20, 2020

Equitable Retreat: The Need for Fairness in Relocating Coastal Communities

Katherine Bagley

ADEKUNLE AJAYI/NURPHOTO VIA GETTY IMAGES

Adaptation, Climate Change, Community, Decision-making, Governments, Sea-level Rise

As seas rise and coastal storms intensify, policymakers and low-lying cities around the globe are increasingly wrestling with the reality of needing to relocate entire communities to higher, safer ground. Scientists estimate that up to 340 million people in coastal areas could be displaced by 2050, and 630 million by 2100, in locations from the United States to Nigeria to the Philippines.

November 19, 2020

Trudeau unveils new net-zero emissions plan to meet climate change targets

Sean Kilpatrick/Canadian Press

Climate Change, Carbon Neutral, Climate Action, COVID-19, GHG emissions, Governments

Environment and Climate Change Minister Jonathan Wilkinson tabled new legislation today that would force current and future federal governments to set binding climate targets to get Canada to net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. “Just like with COVID-19, ignoring the risks of climate change isn’t an option,” said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. “That approach would only make the costs higher and the long-term consequences worse. Canadians have been clear — they want climate action now.”

November 18, 2020

Climate change: UN chief calls for ‘great leap’ towards carbon neutrality

Unsplash/Les Corpographes

Climate Action, Carbon Neutral, Climate Change, Climate Narratives, Energy Transition, Europe, Governments

“2021 must be the year of a great leap towards carbon neutrality,” said António Guterres, UN Secretary-General to a virtual gathering of influential leaders on Monday. “Every country, city, financial institution and company should adopt plans for transitioning to net zero emissions by 2050.” “By early 2021, countries representing more than 65 per cent of global carbon dioxide emissions and more than 70 per cent of the world economy are very likely to have made ambitious commitments to carbon neutrality,” he said. “The signal this sends to markets, institutional investors and decision-makers is clear. Carbon should be given a price. We must shift the tax burden from income to carbon, from taxpayers to polluters.” He added that financial reporting on exposure to climate risks should be made mandatory, while authorities must integrate the carbon neutrality goal into economic and fiscal policies in order to truly transform industry, agriculture, transportation and the energy sector.

November 16, 2020

Biden’s Day 1 challenges: Climate change

Amy Harder

Aïda Amer/Axios

Climate Change, Decision-making, Governments

President-elect Joe Biden will face constraints of both politics and time when it comes to pursuing his aggressive climate-change agenda.

November 15, 2020

Regulators Impose New Stress Tests Around Climate Change

Anita Hawser

Climate Change, ESG regulatory Framework, Governments

The Bank of England and the Banque de France are spearheading the first comprehensive climate-change stress tests of banks and insurers. Tests for the UK’s largest institutions will be mandatory while participation by France’s largest banks, a number of which already consider climate risk in their risk-management framework, is voluntary. Both the UK and French stress tests will run 30-year climate-change scenarios based on data provided by the banks. Results from the French tests are expected next April while the Bank of England has postponed its tests until mid-2021 due to the pandemic.

November 12, 2020

Decade-long plan to save Christchurch’s coastal communities from rising seas

Tina Law

Climate Change, Governments, risk factor, Sea-level Rise

Five years after causing anger and anxiety in Christchurch’s coastal communities, the council is taking a new approach to tackle the impact of rising sea levels. Christchurch City Council is embarking on a lengthy process to figure out how its low-lying coastal and inland communities will adapt to the ramifications of climate change.

November 10, 2020

Trump Administration Removes Scientist in Charge of Assessing Climate Change

By Christopher Flavelle, Lisa Friedman and Coral Davenport

Stefani Reynolds for The New York Times

Decision-making, Climate Change, Governments, National Climate Assessment

The White House has removed the scientist responsible for the National Climate Assessment, the federal government’s premier contribution to climate knowledge and the foundation for regulations to combat global warming, in what critics interpreted as the latest sign that the Trump administration intends to use its remaining months in office to continue impeding climate science and policy.

November 7, 2020

What Biden’s U.S. election win means for Canadian climate action

Ainslie Cruickshank

Climate Action, Decision-making, Emissions reduction targets, Energy, Governments, Paris Agreement

The president-elect’s promise to ramp up U.S. climate leadership will have far-reaching consequences, not just for the Keystone XL pipeline and the oilsands, but for Canada’s fledgling green economy

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